Paper Rex capped off their undefeated run through the upper bracket and clinched a quick 3-0 victory over Louvre (Split 13-8, Icebox 13-8, Haven 13-2) in the title decider of TEC Showdown.
Paper Rex head into the Christmas season with another dominant performance against the upper-echelon teams of SEA and SA in The Esports Club Showdown. The Singaporean powerhouse secured a grand final berth after besting Team Exploit, LVR, and Alter Ego in the process.
Meanwhile, LVR, another Singaporean team, advanced by defeating Global Esports and Velocity Gaming twice, as well as eliminating Alter Ego in the lower final to square off against their Singaporean counterpart in the final. Following the grand final, Louvre declared their disbandment, which culminated in three of the players being signed up by Bleed eSports three days later.
ALSO READ: Bleed eSports announce former Louvre trio signing
The Esports Club Showdown was one of the first competitions to bring together South Asian and Southeast Asian teams in one competition. The following teams were among those participating:
| 🇮🇳 Global Esports | 🇸🇬 Paper Rex |
| 🇵🇰 Team Exploit | 🇮🇳 Enigma Gaming |
| 🇸🇬 Louvre | 🇧🇩 Exceeli Esports |
| 🇮🇳 Velocity Gaming | 🇸🇬 Bleed eSports |
| 🇲🇻 E2S Lexious | 🇮🇩 Alter Ego |
Wang Jing “Jinggg” Jie shined in Paper Rex’s victory on all three maps, even breaking the barrier with a 416 ACS on Icebox, together with Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto to get their team over the line 3-0.
The Grand Final – Paper Rex vs. Louvre – TEC Showdown
Paper Rex got off to a flying start against Louvre on the attacking side of Split. The Benedict “Benkai” Tan-led squad jumped out to an early 4-0 lead thanks to a brilliant opening pistol and a spectacular performance from f0rsakeN. Louvre only managed to gain a tiny amount of control and win four rounds before swapping sides, trailing 8-4 at halftime. After switching sides, Paper Rex set the early pace once again, winning the second pistol before Louvre was able to regain control of the situation once they had firearms. A two-set back-and-forth ensued, but Paper Rex did not relinquish their advantage and swiftly won the map 13-8.
The second map, Icebox, began with a flawless pistol round from Paper Rex and became a one-way street as the SEA representatives at Masters 3 Berlin steamrolled their way to a 10-0 lead. Jinggg was a joy to behold, finding impact in almost every round with Raze. However, the latter two rounds during the first half saw Louvre start to make things competitive, which proved to be accurate. Louvre answered with a seven-round stretch until Paper Rex refused to let up and sealed things up before Louvre could regain momentum, 13-8.
The series came down on Haven, with Paper Rex taking an early lead with a pistol-round victory. Jinggg was a pest throughout the game, taking 22 frags to push the side to a 10-2 lead. Paper Rex didn’t lose a step in posting a strong attacking side lead before swiftly bringing the map to a close, 13-2, and claiming The Esports Club Showdown championship.
The Esports Club Showdown final standings:
| Place | Team | Prize |
| 1st | 🇸🇬 Paper Rex | US$7,000 |
| 2nd | 🇸🇬 Louvre | US$4,000 |
| 3rd | 🇮🇩 Alter Ego | US$2,000 |
| 4th | 🇮🇳 Velocity Gaming | US$1,000 |
| 5th-6th | 🇸🇬 Bleed eSports | – |
| 5th-6th | 🇮🇳 Global Esports | – |
| 7th-8th | 🇵🇰 Team Exploit | – |
| 7th-8th | 🇮🇳 Enigma Gaming | – |
| 9th-10th | 🇧🇩 Exceeli Esports | – |
| 9th-10th | 🇲🇻 E2S Lexious | – |
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Cover photo courtesy of The Esports Club
